According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project: How American’s Use Text Messaging , more than 86% of adults own mobile phones with more than three-quarters of them (77%) sending and receiving text messages.

Communicating via text has become second nature these days. Everyone is text happy. And while the 18-24 year old demographic sends and receives the greatest number of text messages, the usage rates among 25-55 year olds is ever growing.

Many more people are on the go and constantly connected to mobile devices to stay in touch and access information. Marketers are capitalizing on this shift by incorporating text or SMS (short message service) campaigns into their integrated marketing efforts.

Text campaigns can be a very effective way to connect and engage with audiences and the ROI can be substantial when a few simple rules are followed.

Top 5 Text Campaign Tips

1. Get Permission
Make sure to get permission via a keyword opt-in or website opt-in.2. Keep Messages Short & Simple
You have 160 characters per text. Make your message short, to the point and if there is a call-to-action, make it easy to understand.3. Promote Text Campaign Via Other Advertising & Marketing Efforts
If you are running a text-to-win campaign or text to get updates on special offers or promotions, promote this through print ads, on social platforms, via your website.4. Make Messages Timely
Be mindful of when you are sending your texts out and the time zone of your customers. Also limit the number of texts you send – you don’t want to over text. Map out on a calendar how often you will be sending out your text messages.5. Test, Measure and Optimize
Test for different devices and test to make sure automated messages are working correctly and data is being collected in your back-end database. Try a text campaign with a couple small groups using different messages to see what messages drive more interaction. Take what you learn from testing and apply changes to future text campaigns.

View this short motion graphics video that details how text campaigns can be incorporated into an effective integrated marketing strategy.

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